Bystander Effect: A Study on Group Apathy

The bystander effect is a the phenomenon in which the more people are are around the less likely someone will step-in or help in a given situation. THe most prominent example of this is the tragic death of Kitty Genovese. In march of 1964 Kitty genovese was murdered in the alley outside of her apartment. That night numerous people reported hearing the desperate cries for help made by Kitty Genovese who was stabbed to death. Her screams ripped through the night and yet people walked idly by her murder. No one intervened and not even a measly phone call to the police was made. Since 1843 there has over 200 cited college hazing deaths. Fraternities are responsible for the overwhelming majority of those deaths. That is not to say that sororities

The unholy amount of deaths support the idea, but the bystander effect explains it. There are two significant factors to the bystander effect. The diffusion of responsibility and the second is social conformity. The diffusion of responsibility generally the more people present the less pressure to take action because of the false belief someone else will step in. The part that contributes a much more prominent role is the social conformity aspect.

Most males are raised to embody the idea of the Macho Man. A brutish man that eats nails for breakfast and is conditioned to show less emotions than a storefront mannequin. If a man cries, he is generally thought of as a lesser being. As a result when a hazardous situation arises a college guy, in a fraternity, is more likely to brush off the severity of the situation. For instance, the death of Tim Piazza. Tim and other pledges of the Fraternity Beta Theta Pi were made to drink 4-5 drinks in less than two minutes. Due to his inebriated state he fell down a flight of stairs head first. The fraternity brothers dragged his limp unconscious body up the stairs. When one brother insisted that they call for help someone slammed him against the wall and told him that they had the situation handled. They tried to wake him by slapping him and dousing him with water, nothing gave. Later on we he finally came to he repeatedly tried to stand but fell each time. Finally, next morning,

The overwhelming majority of hazing deaths are attributed to fraternities not sororities, but sorority pledges ares till susceptible to just as much abuse, just less likely to die from it. Arguably the social construct part of the bystander effect differs from male to female. Unlike males feamles are generally not rewarded for violence which explains some of the hazing deaths in which rough housing goes to far plus alchol. Females generally are known for proudly bradishing their emotions. Additonally feamles are more likely to vocalize their hurt or discomfort. One example of the bystander effect on sorority hazing was the horrendous near death experience of Ravital Segal. On the night of her hazing her and two other pledges were blindfolded and were pressured to drink a concoction of alcohol out of sizeable water bottles they were driven to an unknown location and promptly thrusted from the vehicle. She blacked out immediately and woke up in the hospital with cuts, bruises, and even two broken teeth. She was admitted with nearly a .4 blood alcohol level. At a .4 alcohol level coma and or death will follow. When there was a hearing weeks later she completely denied hazing of any sorts. Raviatl later(post graduation) writes that on that night she was hazed, but feared the backlash she would faced had she spoken